San Jose mother pleads not guilty to murder of baby boy

A San Jose woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge for the fatal stabbing of her 7-month-old baby boy in a rural area near Livermore in April.

Ashley Newton, 23, is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court in Pleasanton on July 17 for a pre-trial hearing, according to her attorney, Assistant Public Defender Andrew Steckler.

Newton is charged in connection with the death of her son, William Brian Sherman, on April 26.

East Bay Regional Park District police said they received a call reporting a traffic collision on Arroyo Road near the Wente Vineyards winery at about 10:30 a.m. that day. Responding officers found a badly damaged 2013 Honda sedan that was abandoned on the roadway near the park district's Camp Arroyo facility.

East Bay Regional Park police Sgt. Tracy Desiderio wrote in a probable cause statement that "Newton appeared in the roadway holding a lifeless baby in her arms."

Witnesses immediately began emergency medical aid but the boy was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders, Desiderio said.

Newton "made several spontaneous statements indicating that she had killed the baby," Desiderio said in her statement.

After officers read Newton her legal rights, she "again admitted to stabbing the baby numerous times," according to Desiderio.